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Lady Hornets reign in district
When a team sits atop district standings as the only unbeaten one, the last thing they feel is lonely. The Lady Hornets are experiencing a bit of bliss as the only volleyball team in District 28-A to be undefeated at 3-0 and in first place.
"It's great to be 3-0, the girls are extremely excited," Head Coach Bryan Branch said. "They were screaming and jumping up and down. To be honest, I didn't think we would win that convincingly. I give all the credit to the girls. They focused this week, had a great week of practice and they weren't scared or nervous." Louise played a clean match with Runge and dominated the court until the final point was scored. Few mistakes and a lot of aggressiveness led to the easy victory even with a quick Runge team. "Teams like Runge scare us because they hustle and play everything up," Branch said. "They're not necessarily going to hit the ball on us as hard as other teams we played before district like the Palacios and Wharton teams. "I told the girls, 'We can't play tip and free-ball war with them - they'll win that. If we can go up, hit it and keep attacking, then we'll be fine.' And that's what happened tonight." Amber Bain led Louise with strong play at the net. She was a constant force in the match and finished with 24 kills. Kirsten Machicek led the passing attack and tallied 38 assists. She fed the ball straight to Bain and Sarah Williamson, who finished with 18 kills in the win. Branch attributes his team's great play to the overall attitude of the Lady Hornets during practice and games. "Practice and games have been an absolute joy," Branch said. "We haven't had any discipline problems, there hasn't been any arguing or bickering. They joke around with each other, they get along. They're happy to be here and happy to come to practice. "They're reaping the benefits of that. Right now, everything is just going smooth sailing. We're still a long ways away from winning (district) and doing what we want to do. It's just three games and we've got to play Pettus Saturday. Hopefully by then, we'll be 5-0 and in great shape." Pettus is tied with Runge for second place with a 2-1 record. The Lady Hornets will host Pettus Saturday. Louise traveled Tuesday to play last-place Tivoli. With his team performing well, Branch said the Lady Hornets are far from peaking. Improvements in a few areas should secure Louise's districttitle run and position them well for the post season. "We can always get better, we're not state champions by any means," Branch said. "We can set a little better, pass a little better and serve a little better. We're in a good spot though. We're right where we need to be. "We're not at the point where we are peaking, but we're not down in the dumps with no hope. I think we're on a smooth track of improvement. Once you get in the playoffs, anything can happen, but first we've got to make the playoffs." |
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